Activate
by CrossedQuills
Summary: Prompto meets a strange man at a bar while he's waiting for Noctis. They get to talking and Prompto soon comes to realize that this man knows more about him than even he does. Meddling Ardyn. Rated for later chapters. Multiship between the boys.


*This fic was initially inspired by BeverlyToole's rendition of older MT!Prompto for the fic Pendulum. I highly recommend you check it out. Brainstorming for this was assisted greatly by Lhygbereth.

**This story takes place roughly a month before the events of the game, time wise, but it's its own AU so take it like you see it.

Prompto looked down at his phone in the crowded club when it chirped with a text from Noct. He was running a few minutes behind, which was fine. It was still comparatively early in the evening for being at a dance club and the place wouldn't really get hopping until after ten anyway.

The two of them had been friends for years, but in the past few months they'd started messing around physically and it wasn't long until Noctis requested that Prompto be inducted as an official retainer. With Prompto's permission, of course.

And why would he say no? Granted he would have to share Noct with Gladio and Ignis, who were already his official retainers, but he would have done that anyway, just not in an official capacity. It wasn't unheard of for a member of the royal family to have a couple of retainers, but normally they were more upper class, and it was no secret that Prompto had more humble origins. It was touch and go at first, but with Gladio and Ignis backing the motion up it was finally passed.

It was a small step after that for Prompto to submit his application for Crownsguard. He knew that someday Noctis would have to leave Insomnia for official business, and he wanted to be of assistance keeping him safe. Not to mention it would be an excellent excuse for him to ever be at his side. It only seemed logical.

However, again there were glares and rumors about how 'some commoner fucked their way into the Citadel'. Prompto was mortified when Ignis told him that King Regis brought up the gossips at an official council meeting. However, when Ignis told him that, not only did Regis say that such rumors shed a poor light on the crown and its citizens and to cease spreading them immediately, but that he personally endorsed the young Mr. Argentum for Crownsguard.

Two weeks following that he passed his assessment and was formally inducted, although he wasn't surprised when the ceremony wasn't highly advertised nor well attended. His adoptive parents weren't even able to make it. Still, Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis were there along with a handful of others who'd trained him, and that was enough.

He and Noctis were never big fans of ceremony anyway.

Between then and now the two of them, along with Ignis and Gladio had become more like a family than a Prince and retainers. Granted, Gladio still gave Noct shit and pushed him harder while Ignis occasionally hassled him to read reports and focus, but overall they were happy.

Swirling his straw around his mixed drink, Prompto tapped away idly on the candy puzzle game he'd recently downloaded. It wasn't his favorite, but it filled the time between now and the next update of King's Knight that was supposed to come out next month. Periodically he glanced up at the main entrance and informed the odd patron that he was holding the stool next to him for someone.

At some point Prompto got too engrossed in what was on the television behind the bar to notice an ostentatiously dressed man slide into the seat next to him. When Prompto realized it, the gentleman had already ordered his drink. "Oh," said Prompto, "I'm sorry, I was holding this seat for someone."

Amber eyes under maroon locks turned his way casually as the man shot him a charming smile. "My apologies. I was unaware this real estate was reserved." He spoke with a slight accent Prompto couldn't exactly peg, but the tone leaned toward one who was highly educated. "Would you mind terribly if I sit until your company arrives? I've traveled quite a lot these past few days and could use a moment's rest."

Prompto couldn't see the harm. "Yeah. Sure." The man tipped his hat in thanks. "What are you doing in a place like this if you're trying to rest? Seems like the exact opposite place I'd want to be if I was beat." Thankfully the music hadn't been turned up to full volume yet, or Prompto might have had to yell over it.

"I'm just tying up a loose end and getting a drink before retiring for the evening. I've got quite a bit of business to attend to these coming weeks."

"What sort of loose end?" Prompto asked. Couldn't hurt to make small talk until Noct arrived.

"Some assets were stolen from the company I work for a while back and we tracked it down. I'm just in town to make sure it's taken care of."

"What do you do? Business wise I mean."

The man sipped most of his drink before rattling the ice around in his cup. "Politics mostly, but I do dabble in some magic on the side."

"Yeah?" Prompto perked up, the only people he knew who could do magic were the royal family and their entourage. That and a few oracles here and there. "What can you do?"

"Oh, a great many things. Most of which would be inappropriate in these close quarters, but I do dabble in palm reading and fortune telling."

"That's pretty cool. How does it work?"

The stranger extended his hand. "Let me see your hand and a I'll show you. Free of charge for allowing me to sit here."

Without hesitation Prompto was sliding his glove off and extending his hand. He flinched when the man took his palm in his. Damn his fingers were cold! The stranger looked down, idly tracing his index finger along the lines.

"Hmmm, very interesting." Prompto chuckled. He imagined this guy hammed up the drama with all of his clients. "It would appear that you have an interesting origin. One shrouded in mystery. You are an orphan perhaps?"

Prompto's smile vanished as goosebumps rose from his skin. "Uhhh, yeah."

The stranger looked a while longer, seeming to search for something. "I see the skills of an artist in you… maybe with some talent in photography?" He didn't have to wait for an answer. Prompto just swallowed hard to confirm. The stranger's fingers traced along his index finger, over the callous on one side and the spot where the webbing of his hand got pinched in the slide of his gun. "You're a marksman. I'd wager you're pretty good at it too."

That part the man probably could have deduced by just being observant. No magic there. Prompto let his guard down a little.

"It also appears… that you're lovers with the Prince of Insomnia."

Prompto went wide-eyed. Not many were privy to that information and most of those who were worked in the Citadel. He tried pulling his hand away, but the man held on tight, pressing his index finger hard against the barcode hidden beneath his wristband. He yanked hard harder, but his grip was too strong.

Standing up, the stranger got inches from Prompto's face. His eyes shone nearly yellow as the whites of his eyes went dark. "Your lucky number and words are… _05953234\. Weapon. Peace. Glory. Activate."_ Pain shot through Prompto's wrist an instant before the man let him go.

Leaning back into his stool as his eyes returned to normal, the stranger resumed his blasé demeanor and finished the last sip of his drink.

"Who are you?" Prompto asked shakily, rubbing his wrist.

Pulling out his wallet, the man placed a few gil under his glass before standing up and tipping his hat again. "Nobody of consequence. Enjoy your evening. I'm sure it will be an interesting one." Then, without another word, he turned and vanished into the crowd.

Pain throbbed in Prompto's forearm like he'd been shocked with a taser, and it only seemed to radiate further up his arm the longer he sat there. His heart was hammering in his chest as a litany of questions swarmed through his mind. ' _Who was that guy? How could he possibly know that he was with Noctis? What was up with those numbers and words? What was up with those_ _ **eyes**_ _?'_

Picking up his phone he frantically began dialing when a hand landed on his shoulder, causing him to jump so hard he nearly dropped it.

"Whoa, Prom. You alright?" came a familiar voice over the din of the crowd. It was Noctis. Thank the Six. When he turned toward his the prince, Noct's face contorted to concern. "Prom?"

"Let's g-get out of here." Prompto swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. He could already feel the familiar tears of panic welling up in the corners of his eyes as he grabbed his jacket and started walking towards the exit.

Noctis was on his heels, not questioning it until they were in the parking lot.

When the sound of the club music faded and Noctis put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, Prompto let out a choking sob and leaned against Noct's car. He hadn't cried like this in years.

The pain in his arm was radiating up past his shoulder now.

"Gods, Prom what happened?"

Prompto took a deep, broken breath. "There was a guy in the club. I've never seen him before and he told me he could read fortunes. He knew I was adopted and photographer and could shoot well and… Noct, he knew about _us_." Noctis' eyebrows shot toward his hairline. "He has these crazy eyes and…and he did something to me." The pain was moving up his neck and chest now. "It hurts so bad… Noct…I…I…"

The next thing Prompto was aware of was the hard asphalt of the parking lot rising up to meet him.

Turning off the flow of water, Ignis stepped out of the shower and toweled off his hair. It had been a painstakingly busy week and having a nice, long, hot shower washed away a fair amount of stress. Tomorrow was Sunday, so he had no appointments to drive the prince to. He could catch up on reviewing the minutes for the meeting next week before going to the gym with Gladio and then maybe when he was done he would have time to put his feet up and finish the book he'd been reading.

Slipping into a pair of sleep pants and padding his way into the kitchen, he debated whether he would pour himself a cup of red wine or open the bottle of bourbon he got from Lestallum last time they were out there.

While he was perusing the contents of his liquor cabinet his phone vibrated solidly on the breakfast bar. Ignis huffed and closed the cabinet. Who was calling this late?

Swiping the screen open he saw that he had four missed calls from Noctis.

This couldn't be good.

Calling the prince back he waited for only a second before Noct picked up the other end. Ignis didn't even get a greeting out before Noct was shouting on the other line. "Ignis, we're almost at your complex. Prompto collapsed in the club parking lot. I don't know if he was drugged or what but we're almost at your place."

Ignis' chagrin for being disturbed immediately shifted to emergency mode as he slipped some shoes on and fished a clean shirt out of his dresser. "Park around back, we'll use the service elevator. I'll meet you there."

By the time Ignis walked out of the building Noctis was practically sliding into the parking spot. Noctis shot out of the driver's seat and ran around to the back before pulling Prompto out and throwing him over his shoulder. Thankfully the prince was stronger than he looked.

"What happened?" Ignis asked, checking for a pulse and that Prompto was breathing while Noct moved toward the lift.

"I don't know. He was talking about a guy giving fortunes or something at the bar. He freaked him out bad. We went outside and he started to have a panic attack and next thing I know I'm picking him up off the pavement."

As the lift ascended to Ignis' floor the strategist had a thought. "Why didn't you bring him to the Emergency Room?"

Noct shifted Prompto so he was holding him in his arms instead of over his shoulder. "You're only a few blocks from the club." He was breathing hard too. "And you're a doctor."

Ignis scoffed. "Noct I have a doctorate in _history_ , I'm not a medical physician."

The prince didn't comment back as the lift gates opened. Ignis unlocked his apartment door and let them in. "Put him on the couch." While Noctis was placing Prompto down Ignis went and got his first aid kit and a pen light. He may not be a MD, but he knew basic first aid. "Elevate his feet and get a blanket on him." Noct followed his instructions as Ignis did a basic check of him. His heart rate was fast, but steady. Breathing was surprisingly slow given the pounding in his chest and his pupils were so blown out that he could barely see the violet blue of his iris'. "He wasn't injured at all?"

Noct shook his head after covering Prompto up with a throw blanket. "Other than when he hit the pavement, no. He said the guy did something to his arm though."

Ignis inspected both of Prompto's arms, not seeing any sign of bruises. He couldn't see below Prompto's multiple wrist bands so he began removing them to get a better look. Once he got to the right bands he found something unexpected on the young man's wrist. "Noct, has Prompto ever mentioned having a tattoo before?"

"I don't think so. Why do you…oh." Noctis looked over at the barcode, surrounded by the whitest tan line he'd ever seen. "I've never seen that before. Now that I think of it Prompto never takes it off." _Even during sex_ , Noctis was going to add, but withheld the comment at the moment.

Finding the smelling salts in the kit he held it up below Prompto's nose and snapped it. The smell of ammonia hit both of them like a slap in the face, but Prompto didn't even flinch.

"You think we should use a potion or phoenix down?"

Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Ignis debated. "Not the down. Not yet. I only have one of each and I'd rather not use them unless necessary. He's stable at the moment and doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger of getting worse."

Noctis wrung his hands down his face in concern. "So, what do we do now?"

Sighing, Ignis made his way to the kitchen. "I'll put some coffee on. If you don't want to take him to the hospital then we should keep vigil of him until he wakes up. If he's still unconscious come morning, I must insist we go see a real doctor."

Nodding, Noct laced his fingers with Prompto's and squeezed. "Okay."

The next morning Noctis awoke the sound of the microwave beeping. His neck had a godsawful kink in it from nodding off near the foot of the couch. Blearily reaching out his hand to where his boyfriend was laying he was shocked to find it vacant.

"Mornin'," said Prompto from the kitchen, eating a bowl of leftover pasta. "You want some too? Ignis just went out to get some breakfast sandwiches."

Noctis jumped to his feet and embraced Prompto in a hug, nearly knocking the bowl out of his hand. "Gods, you scared the hell out of me. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, actually. I feel fantastic. Hungry, but fantastic. I'd go for a run if my sneakers were here."

Noct pulled away from the hug. "Are you serious? The way you freaked out and then didn't wake up we… Shit Prom, I almost made Iggy use a phoenix down on you. What happened at the bar before I got there."

Finishing his pasta, Prompto put the bowl in the sink and ran some water over it. "Honestly, a lot of it is a blur after the fortune." He sighed. "Noct, he knew we were together. Knew I was a marksman and a photographer. Knew I was adopted." He cleared his throat. "I think he might have been a stalker or something."

"Did he know about your tattoo?" Noct asked when he noticed Prompto fidgeting with the wristbands he'd put back on.

Prompto averted his eyes. "He didn't say anything specifically, but he must have known it was there. He pushed on it and said some numbers and junk it felt like I got electrocuted."

There was a space of silence before Noctis leaned in and went to take Prompto's right hand, but he flinched away. "Why do you hide it? You never even showed it to _me_."

"It's…not something I like talking about."

Before Noctis could say anything further the door opened and Ignis walked in with a bag from the deli. He gave Prompto a light smile when he noticed him. "Glad to see you're up and about." Putting down the bag Ignis reached over and felt the side of Prompto's neck. "Hmm, your heartrate is still a bit high, and you're warm. Do you feel feverish?"

The blonde shook his head. "Little bit of a headache, but otherwise good." His gaze shifted to the brown paper bag. "Did they have Kaiser rolls?"

"Indeed they did. Come, let's eat on the veranda. We have much to talk about."

"Can we eat first?" Prompto asked. He was still hungry, but he figured talking about the incident might make his appetite vanish.

The strategist nodded. "If that's what you'd prefer."

Ignis' apartment was five stories up and the balcony gave a pleasant view of the farmers market going on below. The small space had a few chairs and a small stone table, but it was enough for the three of them. After they'd eaten most of their breakfast and Ignis opened his second can of Ebony of the morning, they finally started talking about last night.

"What did the man look like?"

Prompto shrugged and pushed some egg yolk around with his fork. For a moment he was going to mention the man's eyes. How they darkened like pools of tar and glowed firefly yellow. But it'd changed back so quickly that Prompto suspected that he'd imagined it. It was dark in the club after all. "Middle aged, I think. Reddish hair, stubble, almost as tall as Gladio. He had one of those hats that hipsters wear, but like, he pulled it off with the rest of his outfit. He sounded really well educated and used big words like you do, Iggy."

Ignis smirked. "You mentioned he said something to you before departing, do you remember what it was?"

"A bunch of numbers then…umm… 'Weapon, peace, glory, and activate.' Then he just tipped his hat, paid for his drink, and walked away. That's when Noct showed up."

"How long between him leaving and you passing out?"

Prompto shrugged. "I don't know… maybe a minute. Two?"

Ignis ran his thumb along the condensation on his can.

"What are you thinking Specks?" Noct asked.

"Well… given the timeline it took you to lose consciousness it is possible that he drugged you somehow or cast some kind of status effect. Perhaps we should still take you down to the hospital and have some tests run to make sure-"

"No."

Ignis blinked. "Pardon?"

"No hospitals. I can't stand them. It's full of dying people and smells like disinfectant. Makes my skin crawl."

Noctis gave his shoulder a squeeze. "We just want to make sure you're alright. If he poisoned you somehow don't you want to know."

"No hospitals." Prompto said again, deadpan.

Ignis cleared his throat. "Perhaps the healers over at the Citadel could run some tests instead. Maybe they could shed some light on-"

Prompto looked up at the advisor, anger flashing in his eyes. "I said, no!" He pounded his fist down on the stone table with the final word, and his hand went through it like it was plaster.

Both of the other men jumped up, causing what was left of the table to tip over. Prompto hissed and held his fist tight to his chest. "Shit… Iggy I'm sorry." He grumbled to himself and flexed his fingers, making sure he hadn't broken anything. "Where did you get this table? I didn't think you liked cheap furniture."

Ignis just stared at him, wide eyed. "Prompto… that was solid marble."

"But… it just crumbled. Was it old?"

Noctis bent down and picked up a hand sized chunk of it and handed it to Prompto. "Try and break this."

"What?"

"Humor me."

Pausing for a moment and flexing his bruised hand, Prompto took the hunk of heavy marble, grabbed it with both hands, and snapped it like it was sheetrock. He dropped the stone to the ground, fingers shaking. "Guys… what's happening to me?"

Ignis pushed his glasses up his nose. "First, I'm going to clean this up, then I think we should run some tests of our own."

~X~X~

I initially had this posted as two chapters, but decided to consolidate them into one and change a few minor things. Hope it didn't throw anyone who read it the first time around. New chapter to come soon.


End file.
